IRON MOUNTAIN – The Iron Mountain School District Board of Education took action at Wednesday’s meeting to approve the relocation of two more grades for the 2015-16 school year.

The fifth grade will be moving to two classrooms at the Iron Mountain High School building and fourth graders are going to North Elementary School of the Arts.

With the move of the fifth graders – to B Floor – now all grades 5-8 will all be on one floor. Grades 9-12 are located on Floor C and D of the building.

The board had taken action on Dec. 8, to move the sixth graders to the high school building.

This action also means that North Elementary will then house students from early kindergarten through the fourth grade.

Supt. Tom Jayne said that phone calls were made to all the current fourth grade parents who did not attend the two sessions they held. The meetings and calls were to answer concerns and questions about the proposed reconfiguration of the buildings.

The fifth graders will be in two self-contained classrooms on B Floor – on the west end of the building. Jayne added that they will have separate bathrooms to use and use the entrance on the west end. Fifth graders will continue to have recess and will be able to use the playground at Bishop Baraga Catholic School.

During committee reports, board member Lisa Basanese noted that the meetings with all the staff from the different buildings as well as the union representatives moved along well with everyone in agreement about the curriculum changes for next year.

“Everything was open and transparent and we had real good meetings,” she said. “These meetings with the community and parents were well thought out with feedback received and good discussions.”

Board Vice President Rob Langsford agreed.

“I want to commend the time and effort everyone has put in to make sure this is a right decision for our kids. It was a successful effort because we made sure everyone was a part of the discussions,” Langsford said.

Jayne said that he and Donny Bianco, elementary principal, had reached out to all the parents of the current fourth graders to make sure their questions were answered. One of the concerns was safety and where they would go for lunch and recess. They spent time with the parents showing how that would work out as well as giving parents a tour of where the classrooms would be in the high school building.

Jayne added that these changes were made since the district currently has 330,000 square feet of space in all of its buildings. With smaller numbers in classes now compared to years ago, they will go down to a total of 192,000 square feet between North Elementary and the high school building next year.

Other good news at the meeting included a report that the 1991 school bonds were being refinanced. Districts are allowed to refinance three times and this is the final time for the bonds, which mature in 2021.

Jayne said that the refinancing saves the taxpayers from now until they mature $142,000. People will see a decrease in their property taxes – by 0.7 percent between now and six years when they mature.

He added that this action by the board to refinance was made during a special meeting on March 10. “I’m happy for our taxpayers in the district, who have supported us so well.”

In other action, the board:

– Heard that the district had been given an extension by the state Department of Education. They have until May 21, to submit their revised deficit elimination plan (DEP).

– Learned that the requests for proposals (RFPs) for the sale of the East Elementary School and older Central School buildings are competed and will be sent out to newspapers on March 21. Jayne said that the Central addition is not on the RFPs, but is up for discussion with the board. In addition, the board holds the right for refusal of any offer.

– Hired Kevin Sullivan as the head boys track coach. Sullivan has been the assistant varsity football coach for many years.

– Accepted the resignation of Adrianna Bafile as an educational assistant.

Linda Lobeck’s e-mail address is llobeck@ironmountaindailynews.com.